Cuff links



Dec. 15, 1964 A. BLUMSTEIN CUFF LINKS Filed Nov. 15, 1963 INVE NTOR BY QQQAARMBLUMSTEIU EMMW 3 a F IG. 4.

United States Patent 3,150,932 CUFF LINK Abraham Blumstein, 9303 69th Ave., Forest Hills, N.Y. Filed Nov. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 324,066 4 Claims. (Cl. 24--97) This invention relates generally to cuff links and more particularly to cuff links having a pivoted toggle.

The object of this invention is to provide a toggle finding for a jewel for use as a cuff link which is simple in construction and economical to manufacture.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pivoted toggle type cuff link having a minimum number of parts associated therewith.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a yoke having a fixed head at one end thereof and a pivotable head at the other end thereof.

The pivotable head comprises a shell having a longitudinally extending peripheral wall and an open top. The peripheral wall includes opposed side walls having aligned, approximately centrally located, slots extending from the top edge of the peripheral wall. A seating means comprising a shelf extending inwardly circumferentially about the interior of the peripheral wall and spaced from the top thereof receives the bottom face of a jewel in abutment therewith through the open top of the shell. The shell further includes a bottom closure having a pair of slots adjacent each end thereof. An arcuate blade FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

The drawing is substantially to scale of a working model of the invention, and reference is made to the drawing to complete the disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the toggle finding for a jewel of the present invention includes a shell 10 having a peripheral wall 11 which comprises the longitudinally extending arcuate opposed side walls 11a and 11b. The outer surfaces of side walls 11a and 11b are convex and r the inner surfaces of walls 11a and 11b are concave. Recspring is received within said shell and abuts the bottom closure. The upper surface of the spring is convex upward. The blade spring projects above the bottom edge of the slots in the side Walls. A flexible strip having tabs at the ends thereof is received within said shell with the tabs projecting through the bottom closure'slots and being bent outwardly under said bottom closure so the bottom surfaces of the tabs are coplanar with the bottom surface of the bottom closure. The upper surface of the flexible strip lies below the seat means.

-The yoke has a pair of spaced legs connected by a crossbar. The crossbar is received within the side slots and is frictionally and resiliently clamped between the flexible strip and the spring.

The jewel is received through the open top of the shell and the bottom surface thereof abuts the seat means. The portion of the peripheral wall above the seat means may be crimped over the jewel to maintain the jewel in place. Additionally, the jewel may be glued to the shell.

Optionally, the crossbar is square in cross-section. Hence, by the application of appropriate force, the shell may be turned between a position in which it is aligned with the yoke (for insertion into a cuff.) and a position in. which it is perpendicular, to the yoke (to hold the cuff link in place in the cuff). The blade spring and the tangular aligned slots 14 and 15 are contained in respective walls 11a and 11b and are substantially centrally located. The slots 14 and 15 extend from the upper edge of shell 10. The inner upper surface of peripheral wall 11 is made of slightly smaller width than the lower portion to thereby define an inwardly projecting shelf 16 at the junction of the upper and lower portions which extends about the inner periphery of wall 11 and is spaced from the top edge thereof. The bottom wall 13 of shell 16 is arcuately shaped and has openings adjacent the ends thereof. Longitudinal projections 17 and 18 extend from the end of the shell in abutment with peripheral wall 11 and respectively extend over a portion of the aforementioned openings to define slots 19 and 2t). Ideally projections 17 and 18 may be coplanar and may be formed by any method such as by stamping or by soldering the projections into the shell. The upper surface of bottom wall 13 is concave while the lower surface is convex.

An arcuate, longitudinally extending blade spring 21 is received within shell 10 and abuts bottom closure 13.

The upper surface of blade spring 21 is convex. The ends of blade spring 21 terminate before respective slots 19 and 20 and the upper surface of blade spring 21 adjacent the side wall slots projects above the lower edge of slots 14 and 15.

The toggle 22 is in the form of a U-shaped yoke having an elongated shank portion 23 and a pair of spaced legs 24 and 25. The bottom portion. of shank 23 contains notches 23a and 2312, as shown in FIG. 3. A longiflexible strip serve as yieldable springs to permit this action ofthe shell.

tudinaily extending fixed head 26 having a slot therein (not shown) receives the lower portion of shank 23 therein with the upper surfacev of-head 26 abutting the upper surface of notches 27 and 28. Head 26 may be afiixed to yoke 22 in any manner, such as by a press fit or by welding or soldering.

A crossbar 49, which is optionally of square cross-section, extends between and is spaced from the ends of legs 24, 25. The spacing between the elements is such that the ends of the legs straddle the shell, and the crossbar is seated with-in slots 14, 15 of the shell side walls and upon the upper surface of blade spring 21.

A flexible and resilient longitudinally extending strip 39, having the downwardly projecting tabs 31 and 32 at the endsthereof (FiG. 2), is received within shell 10with tabs 31 and 32 respectively passing through slots 20 and 19 in bottom wall 13 and being bent outwardly under projections 1'7 and 18 so the lower surface of tabs 31 and 32 are coplanar with the bottom surface of wall 13.

4 shelf 16, as shown in FIG. 3.

oke, when the cuif link is to be inserted into a cuff is v I A jewel 33, which may optionally have a flat lower surface and a convexly shaped upper surface, is sized and shaped to fit through the open top of shell 10 with the lower surface of jewel 33 abutting shelf 16 and with the lower edges of jewel 33 being in contact with the inner surface of peripheral wall 11. Thus, the upper portion of wall 11 may be crimped over the 'side of jewel 33 to secure the jewel in place. Optionally, the jewel may be secured in place by gluing thejewel to the inner surface I of peripheral wall 11 and to shelf 16. 

1. IN A TOGGLE FINDING FOR A JEWEL, A SHELL HAVING AN OPEN TOP, AND A PERIPHERAL WALL SIZED AND SHAPED TO RECEIVE SAID JEWEL THEREIN THROUGH SAID OPEN TOP AND HAVING INWARD SEAT MEANS FOR RECEPTION OF THE BOTTOM OF SAID JEWEL, SAID PERIPHERAL WALL HAVING OPPOSING LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SIDES HAVING RESPECTIVE SLOTS EXTENDING TO THE TOP EDGE OF SAID PERIPHERAL WALL, A BOTTOM CLOSURE FOR SAID PERIPHERAL WALL HAVING LONGITUDINALLY SPACED BOTTOM CLOSURE SLOTS WITH SAID SIDE SLOTS LONGITUDINALLY BETWEEN SAID BOTTOM SLOTS A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING ARCUATE BLADE SPRING WITHIN SAID SHELL HAVING AN UPPER SURFACE EXTENDING ABOVE THE BOTTOM OF SAID SIDE SLOTS, A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING RESILIENT AND FLEXIBLE MEMBER WITHIN SAID SHELL BELOW SAID SEAT MEANS AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID BOTTOM SLOTS AND HAVING TABS RESPECTIVELY EXTENDED THROUGH SAID BOTTOM SLOTS AND BENT UNDER SAID BOTTOM CLOSURE, AND A YOKE HAVING LEGS ON EACH SIDE OF SAID SHELL AND A CROSSBAR EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID LEGS, SAID BAR SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE IN CROSSSECTION, SAID BAR EXTENDING THROUGH SAID SIDE SLOTS AND BETWEEN AND IN TURNABLE AND RESILIENTLY CLAMPED RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID BLADE SPRING AND SAID LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING STRIP. 